RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 2205 AD on a large family estate near Viminacium, Lexia ascended to prominence as the senator instrumental in ending the cyborg wars. She also leads a dual life in the narcotic-fueled underworld of interdimensional cyber raves. By day, the diligent diplomat and servant of Rome; by night, the pursuit of ecstasy among a coterie of anti-imperial aliens, vampires and time travelers.
Born 1705 AD in Kyoto, Satoshi, a diplomat, discovered an interdimensional portal while on a trip to Rome and never looked back. He now travels across time and space in search of Shangri-la.
Born in 179 AD in the province of Raetia, Luteus Duilius, a loyal soldier under the reign of Septimius Severus, was appointed as a guard of the dimensional portal at the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, tasked with arresting any inbound travelers on sight.
Born in 201 AD in Valentia, Bern, a friend & guard of Emperor Severus Alexander, traveled through a dimensional portal to gain intel on German invaders, but was lost in time and the delay resulted in the assassination of Severus by his own troops.
Born 116 AD in Lugdunum, Flavia is an Antonine heiress turned flamenco dancer slash jewel thief who travels across time and space to perform at grand balls and pilfer / pickpocket at glitzy afterparties, fencing her stolen loot on the interdimensional black market.
Born 702 AD in Glasgow, Gwyn Der Fyn, daughter of a tapestry dealer, travels across space and time in search of the hottest shopping malls with the best deals on interstellar jewelry.
Born 3783 AD in Londinium, J.R. is a dimension hopping playboy who frequents posh, underground nightclubs to prey on rebellious beautiful women in search of freedom through time.
Born in 130 BC in Cirta, Thyra was a battled hardened daughter of King Jugurtha who betrayed her benighted father to Sulla and later became the leader of a zombie-hunting cohort in Volubilis.
Born 288 AD, Scout was born to parents exiled to Britannia after their defeat by Probus in 278 AD. Having won multiple archery contests, she was captured by time traffickers from a Romanesque 20th century AD alternate dimension to compete as a shopping mall gladiator.
Born 341 AD in Kobe, Ken is a disgraced samurai who traveled to Rome seeking new combatants, hoping to die with glorious honour in a crowded colosseum.
Born 341 AD in Constantinople, Lysandra is a bartender at a 26th century themed karaoke bar in downtown Constantinople and a podcast host who interviews famous historical figures while they eat spicy turkey wings.
Born in 274 AD in Trento, Rolfus was part of the mysterious Cthulu Cohort that, according to legend, disappeared in a cave and returned as cybernetic drones believe to be puppeteered by an extradimensional alien force loyal to Emperor Diocletian.
Born 130 BC in Cirta, Afer is a grain farming pleb who was visited by a clone of himself from the future and given the recipe for sour mash whiskey, the mass production of which made him rich and famous and provided the liquid courage needed for the Roman legions to triumph in countless battles.
Born 1972 AD in Larissa, Teren was a videographer hired to shoot a routine military transport—until his footage captured something the Empire couldn’t allow to exist. Scrubbed from the records and marked for deletion, he fled with the raw files and a camera too old to track. Now he drifts between safehouses, haunted by what he filmed and unsure whether he’s chasing justice or just trying to prove he still exists.
Born 55 BC in Babylon, Shamma is a gifted lyre player who was abducted by time traffickers, brainwashed and forced to perform in a karaoke band in 26th century AD Neo-Byzantium.
